Cairo is the largest city in Africa and the Middle East but it has no official city-wide waste disposal system. This documentary tells the story of the Zaballeen, poor Egyptians who have been collecting garbage for 100 years (for a nominal fee) and then recycling it for profit. Their world is thrown into tumult when the government decides to modernize trash collection by hiring foreign firms. The Zaballeen complain because not only in their way of life being destroyed but their environment as well. While the Zaballeen pride themselves on being able to recycle 80% of the garbage they collect, the foreign firms are only able to recycle about 20%. When one of the Zaballeen boys takes a trip to Wales to see a high-tech recycling system, which is able to process 29% of refuse, he comments that it is quick but lacks precision. The Zaballeen do all their sorting by hand and are able to a lot more attention to detail. Oh, and the best part of the movie occurred in Wales when one of the boys said "Hey, did you see that car? It stopped so the pedestrians could cross the street!"
When soldiers and marines return to the U.S. from Iraq or Afghanistan over 75% of them arrive in Bangor Maine. When they get off the plane there are always civilians (including veterans) there to greet them and provide them with cell phones to call their loved ones. It's such a small gesture to show these men and women how much we appreciate their efforts but it really seems to mean something to them. This documentary explores the story of three senior citizens who are ready to drive miles in the snow at a moments notice to greet our troops. The film largely ignores the politics of the wars (as do the volunteers) in favor of more personal truths.
This horror film has a decently creepy premise but it just wasn't quite scary enough (or funny enough) to leave a lasting impression.
Delightful film that tells the epic story of Rama and Sita juxtaposed against the director's autobiographical tale of romantic difficulty. The highlight of this film is the trio of Indian narrators who repeatedly mix up the details when they're not busy forgetting them all together. This leads to a great deal of comedic arguments underscored by the animation which quickly changes to adapt to the narrators ever changing story. The main problem I have with this film is that the excessive amount of musical numbers which bring the action to a screeching halt. Even more infuriating is the completely unnecessary intermission which eats up three minutes of screen time. An eighty-two minute film does not need an intermission! Fortunately, you can watch the film for free, either online or by downloading it, both ways will afford you the opportunity to fast forward through anything you find boring.
I'm not going to pretend like I understood this rare feature-length film from the Brothers Quay. It was a long day and this was my fifth film so I had a hard time concentrating on what was happening. But I can say, without reservation, that this film looks beautiful.
No comments:
Post a Comment